West Side Story is a 1961 American musical romantic drama film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. With a screenplay by Ernest Lehman, the film is an adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical of the same title, which in turn was inspired by Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. It stars Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, and George Chakiris, and was photographed by Daniel L. Fapp in Super Panavision 70. The music was composed by Leonard Bernstein, with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
Synopsis[]
Set in the gritty streets of the Upper West Side of New York City, the film tells the tale of two rival gangs, the Jets and the Sharks, who are locked in a bitter feud that intensifies as they fight for dominance of their neighborhood. Amidst this hostility, Tony (played by Richard Beymer), a former member of the Jets, falls in love with Maria (played by Natalie Wood), the sister of Bernardo (played by George Chakiris), the leader of the Sharks. Their love defies the odds, leading to a series of tragic events that echo the Shakespearean source material.
Cast[]
- Natalie Wood as Maria, Bernardo's younger sister and Chino's arranged fiancée,[5] who falls in love with Tony
- Marni Nixon as Maria's singing voice (also Anita's singing voice in Quintet)
- Richard Beymer as Tony, co-founder and one-time member of the Jets and best friend of Riff, who works at Doc's drugstore and falls in love with Maria
- Jimmy Bryant as Tony's singing voice
- Russ Tamblyn as Riff, leader of the Jets, best friend of Tony
- Tucker Smith as Riff's singing voice for "Jet Song"
- Rita Moreno as Anita, Bernardo's girlfriend, and Maria's closest confidante
- Betty Wand as Anita's singing voice for "A Boy Like That"
- George Chakiris as Bernardo, leader of the Sharks, older brother of Maria and Anita's boyfriend
- Simon Oakland as Police Lieutenant Schrank, a hard-boiled plainclothes detective
- Ned Glass as Doc, Tony's boss; a decent, elderly Jewish drugstore owner
- William Bramley as Police Sergeant Krupke, a brusque beat cop (Bramley played the role in the original Broadway production)
Uncredited:
- John Astin as Glad Hand, well-meaning but ineffective social worker
- Penny Santon as Madam Lucia, bridal shop owner
Jets[]
- Tucker Smith as Ice (a character created for the film), Riff's lieutenant; becomes leader of the Jets after Riff's death
- Tony Mordente as Action, a short-tempered Jet.
- David Winters as A-Rab, Baby John's best friend
- Eliot Feld as Baby John, the youngest member of the Jets; a relative innocent
- Bert Michaels as Snowboy
- David Bean as Tiger
- Robert Banas as Joyboy
- Anthony 'Scooter' Teague as Big Deal
- Harvey Evans (Harvey Hohnecker) as Mouthpiece
- Tommy Abbott as Gee-Tar
Jet girls[]
- Susan Oakes as Anybodys, a tomboy and wannabe Jet
- Gina Trikonis as Graziella, Riff's girlfriend
- Carole D'Andrea as Velma, Ice's girlfriend
Uncredited:
- Rita Hyde d'Amico as Clarice, Big Deal's girlfriend
- Pat Tribble as Minnie, Baby John's girlfriend
- Francesca Bellini as Debby, Snowboy's girlfriend
- Elaine Joyce as Hotsie, Tiger's girlfriend
Sharks[]
- Jose De Vega as Chino Martin, Bernardo's best friend, who is the arranged fiancé of Maria[5]
- Jay Norman as Pepe, Bernardo's lieutenant
- Gus Trikonis as Indio, Pepe's best friend
- Eddie Verso as Juano
- Jaime Rogers as Loco
- Larry Roquemore as Rocco
- Robert Thompson as Luis
- Nick Covacevich as Toro
- Rudy Del Campo as Del Campo
- Andre Tayir as Chile
Shark girls[]
- Yvonne Wilder as Consuelo, Pepe's girlfriend (In credits as Yvonne Othon)
- Suzie Kaye as Rosalia, Indio's girlfriend
- Joanne Miya as Francisca, Toro's girlfriend
Uncredited:
- Maria Jimenez Henley as Teresita, Juano's girlfriend
- Luci Stone as Estella, Loco's girlfriend
- Olivia Perez as Margarita, Rocco's girlfriend
Musical numbers[]
- "Jet Song"
- "Something's Coming"
- "María"
- "America"
- "Tonight"
- "Gee, Officer Krupke"
- "I Feel Pretty"
- "One Hand, One Heart"
- "Tonight Quintet"
- "Cool"
- "Somewhere"
- "A Boy Like That"
Release[]
Released on October 18, 1961, through United Artists, the film received praise from critics and viewers, and became the highest-grossing film of 1961. It was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won 10, including Best Picture (in addition to a special award for Robbins), becoming the record holder for the most wins for a musical. West Side Story is regarded as one of the greatest musical films of all time. The Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1997.[6]
Reception[]
It holds a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 116 reviews, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The site's critical consensus states: "Buoyed by Robert Wise's dazzling direction, Leonard Bernstein's score, and Stephen Sondheim's lyrics, West Side Story remains perhaps the most iconic of all the Shakespeare adaptations to visit the big screen". Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 86 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
References[]
- ↑ West Side Story at the American Film Institute Catalog
- ↑ West Side Story (AA). British Board of Film Classification (January 12, 1962).
- ↑ Mirisch, Walter (2008). I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History. Madison, Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, page 127. ISBN 978-0-299-22640-4.
- ↑ West Side Story (1961). Box Office Mojo.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Miller, Robin (April 23, 2019). A story of love and acceptance: Ascension Community Theatre opens 'West Side Story' April 25.
- ↑ Berson, Misha (2011). Something's Coming, Something Good: West Side Story and the American Imagination. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, page 155. ISBN 9781557837660.
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